Plastique Chappo

"Newtopia" is the debut and sole full-length studio album by Japanese progressive rock act Pale Acute Moon. The album was originally released through Monolith on vinyl limited to 1050 copies…

The French equivalent of prog-rock bands Yes and Genesis, Atoll recorded four albums in the mid- to late '70s with a lineup that stabilized by the time of the group's second album. L'Araignee Mal (1975) included vocalist/percussionist André Balzer, guitarist Christian Beya, bassist Jean-Luc Thillot, keyboard player Michel Taillet, and drummer Alain Gozzo. Gradually commercializing its sound beginning with third album Tertio, Atoll released only one more studio album (plus a compilation) before breaking up. In the late '80s, however, a new, pop-oriented version appeared. Including only Beya from the previous lineup, the band released L'Ocean and the live album Tokyo C'est Fini (both 1989).

This is the Paris Theater concert from 1973 near the end of the bands existence. They are having a very good time in front of a very appreciative audience with Chappo snarling and howling, grunting bass, slicing guitar, wailing organ/synth and rocking drums. The sound - even though mono - is really solid and soundboard clear. It's a wall of sound type mix but everything is quite clear within it. It beats some of the live bonus cuts on some of the individual album releases by miles! If you have all three of the BBC series already - you will find this a very enjoyable and glad addition as the arrangements and sheer drive are unique among the other BBC series. It is a massive rockin testament to the band.

The Comas formed in Chapel Hill, NC, in March 1998 as a joke country band, a sort of counterweight to the hyped No Depression movement. Before long, however, both the "joke" and the "country" parts of the concept were eliminated, thus allowing the band to develop into a quirky alternative rock outfit. The Comas' respectable 1999 debut, Wave to Make Friends, was comprised of sleepy (but not lethargic) indie pop and off-kilter boy-and-girl vocal harmonies, courtesy of co-founders Andrew Herod and Nicole Gehweiler. The band's instrumental canvas proved to be larger and more eclectic than that of the typical indie group, buoying the usual guitars and rhythm section with violin, organ, and creative non-rap samples. Faced with the challenge of labeling such music, The Comas' label billed deemed the sound "stoner pop".

Daniel Lopatin reclaims the uncanny sorcery of 'Garden of Delete' on 'Again', evanescing divergent styles into an unashamedly pompous roil of vapor-damaged harpsichord twangs, bombastic synth-prog workouts, damaged emo-pop, computer-controlled avant minimalism and fractal ambience. He's back.

The French equivalent of prog-rock bands Yes and Genesis, Atoll recorded four albums in the mid- to late '70s with a lineup that stabilized by the time of the group's second album. L'Araignee Mal (1975) included vocalist/percussionist André Balzer, guitarist Christian Beya, bassist Jean-Luc Thillot, keyboard player Michel Taillet, and drummer Alain Gozzo. Gradually commercializing its sound beginning with third album Tertio, Atoll released only one more studio album (plus a compilation) before breaking up. In the late '80s, however, a new, pop-oriented version appeared. Including only Beya from the previous lineup, the band released L'Ocean and the live album Tokyo C'est Fini (both 1989).